‘Enzymes in Cascade detergent [sold in the US] are designed to attach themselves to food particles," reports the Wall Street Journal reports. "Without food, the enzymes have nothing to latch onto.’ Meaning that if there’s no gunk on the plates, the detergent can’t stick to the surface to get it completely clean.
Another big reason is water wastage. Research shows that households that pre-rinse their plates and pans before the dishwasher waster more than 225 litres of water per year. And with modern-day dishwashers only using around 11-15 litres per load, that makes it even more efficient than people who insist on hand-washing their loads - which uses around 100 litres per load. Woah.
Finally - and more importantly, scientists say - research shows that it simply doesn’t make your dishes any cleaner to pre-rinse your pots and plates before putting them in the dishwasher. Dishwashers are so advanced these days with advanced sprayer technology and sensors that detect how dirty plates are, they almost certainly will clean any surface whether its rinsed or not.
While some say there’s no way pans with stubborn residue on them will clean without rinsing, detergent and dishwasher manufacturers disagree - and say not rinsing it crucial to their products working.
Do you believe?
